It’s May!

I’m a bit behind on ye old blog, but a late update is better than no update, right?

So April…

  1. Butterflies and Caterpillars. Y’all. I didn’t do squat on these. Oh well. I’m sure that the motivation to work on this project will return eventually.
  2. Start EPP diamonds. Not only did I start, but I’m close to finishing! I only need to make 2 more hexagons! And then finish stitching the rows together. And add a border. And quilt it… Ok, so maybe I’m not close to finishing it, but I did make loads of progress and I’m really happy with how it’s turning out!
  3. Journal. Not so much with this, but I’m going to try to do better next month.
  4. Project Life. I actually managed to keep up with this! And I finished the scrapbook pages for March 2020!
  5. Windchime Quilt. Not much progress to report here, but I did prep another center ring.
  6. Birthday Party Prep. Well, quarantine is not how I imagined spending their 5th birthdays, but it went as well as it possibly could.
  7. Mixed Media. I did the whole back of 20! So much fun. I think I’m going to order another pack!
  8. Scrapbooking. I got a whopping 27 total pages done in April! 13 Project Life layouts, 2 old layouts from 2018, and 12 current layouts from March! I’m so pleased. Fingers crossed I can keep this momentum going. If I could be at least somewhat caught up by the time quarantine was lifted, maybe I could actually stay somewhat current.
  9. Montessori Trays. Not so much, but I did add in a letter-a-week craft and they’re really enjoying that. I’ve also watched a lot of Montessori at home YouTube videos so there’s that. lol.
  10. Maintain Sanity. The jury is still out of this one! lol.

It’s already the 6th of May, but let’s make some goals anyway.

  1. End of year pics/ interviews. I’m also going to stage a “class pic” of the 3 of them since school was cancelled before any of the class pics.
  2. Keep current on Project Life.
  3. Edit/ order prints to fill in the Project Life gap. This is going to be a huge undertaking, but I really really really want to be able to do Project Life in real time. I think I need to do 23 week though… Not sure I’ll actually be able to get that done, but it sure would be awesome! No lie, I was feeling better about this plan before I counted the layouts.
  4. Finish EPP Diamond quilt top.
  5. Scrap April 2020. No sense in getting further behind. lol. Once I close the gap on Project Life, I’ll start thinking about doing the same with the scrapbook. It will be a much larger undertaking. lol. I’m currently working on October 2018.
  6. Create a homeschool schedule. One that we can actually stick to for the summer. I think the kids are all going to need varying degrees of structure from me since there will be no actual school work or zoom meetings from their schools.
  7. Continue with Letter a Week Crafts.
  8. Add in a related sensory activity at least once a week.
  9. Work on Low Volume Log Cabin Quilt. Did I mention that I started a new quilt? lol.
  10. Maintain Sanity.

April Goals

This is a bizarre new normal we’re living in. :/ But I still love goals and I still love crafty things so lets see how March went.

  1. Butterflies and Caterpillars. I did almost nothing on this. But, I did decide on one of the green fruits! I’m going to do olives. πŸ™‚ So maybe I’ll make some more progress on it this month?
  2. Scrapbooking. Well, I did order some cardstock so that’s something. lol. Still need to set aside an evening and make the backgrounds.
  3. Project Life. I didn’t make any progress on the older layouts, but I did decide that, with everything going on in the world right now, I needed to document more “in the moment.” So I ordered my binder nad page protectors for 2020 and decided that I would do the previous week each Monday. And I’m happy to report that I have weeks 11, 12, and 13 done! At minimum, I’m going to continue with this plan, and eventually I’d like to get to where I can slowly fill in the gap. Of course, I’m now sharing my office with my first born, lol, so we’ll see.
  4. Road trip prep. Obviously we cancelled our spring break trip so I never made a book.
  5. Hexies. I am happy to report that I surpassed this goal! I got the first half of the hexie quilt finished!
  6. Pixilated Heart Quilt. This has been put on hold for now since, obviously, I’m not currently having sewing class. At least not in person.
  7. Bluebonnet Pics. Done!
  8. Tomatoes. We actually planted them! And now that we’re home all the time it’s actually getting watered. lol. Kind of wishing I’d put in a more substantial garden now.
  9. Blog. hahahahahaha.
  10. Move more. hahahahahaha.

I was going to add a pic of our bluebonnet pics, but Kate’s doing school on my big computer right now. lol. Maybe I’ll make it a post all its own!

So, April goals.

  1. Butterfly and Caterpillar Quilt. Finish butterfly and caterpillar applique. I think I only have half of a caterpillar and 3 or 4 butterflies left to do. I’d also like to prep the olive applique.
  2. Start on EPP diamonds. Since I lack all self control, I went ahead and ordered some papers and a template to start a EPP diamond quilt. lol. It should be arriving today!
  3. Journal every day. I ordered journals for Kate and myself and we’re attempting to journal every day. So far so good!
  4. Project Life. Keep up with current layouts.
  5. Windchime Quilt. I finished my 6th block yesterday! Only 19 to go. lol.
  6. Birthday Party Prep. The babies are turning 5 and I need to figure out how to have some kind of virtual birthday party for them…
  7. Mixed Media. I want to go ahead and make those mixed media backgrounds.
  8. Scrapbooking. I’d really love to get a few traditional layouts done this month. Maybe 5?
  9. Montessori Trays. I made the babies some last month and they seemed to enjoy them for a day or 2. We’ve been working in a workbook for their “homeschool” which they actually love, but I’d like to change it up a bit and have some other activities for them to do.
  10. Maintain Sanity.

March Goals

How is it already March?!? February just flew by. Since I didn’t manage to blog at all last month, I’ll try to make this a juicier recap with some pics. πŸ™‚

February Goals:

  1. Butterflies and Caterpillars. I did pretty good on this one! I now have all of the red, orange, and yellow blocks done, plus I finished all of the 9 patches! Here’s a pic showing the caterpillars all laid out on my grandmother’s bed. I was going to do the butterflies as well, but Mia’s school nurse called so we had to cut sewing day short so I could go pick her up. I’m feeling decently well about my progress, I just need to make some decisions about the green and blue fruit. Why are decisions always the hardest part?!?

2. EPP Workshop. You guys! I was so nervous about this and it ended up being amazing! RaptorDad helped me to make a powerpoint (read: RaptorDad made me a powerpoint as I quietly panicked the night before the presentation. lol)

3. August Project Life. Well, I managed to do one week so that’s something? I need to commit some serious time to this.

4. Scrap 10 current pages. Nope. But I think this week I’m going to have a mixed media playdate with Kate and then I’ll have some backgrounds to work with.

5. Montessori Trays. Sensing a theme? Although I did find some Leap Day printables that were fun so that’s something at least. I went ahead and printed off some St Patrick’s Day printables while I was there.

6. Girl Scouts. Finally a success! (of sorts. lol.) This probably needs to be it’s own blog post, but let’s just say that all of the paperwork is finished. And we all really enjoyed our unscheduled trip to the beach. lol.

7. Hexies. I’ve actually gotten some stuff done with these! I’m actually almost done with my last super hexie; I should be able to finish it this week. Of course, I ran out of papers and I can’t cut anymore since I’ve switched computers, but I have enough to finish the main block and I’ll just baste the extra 3 of each hexie as I take the other papers out. Feels good to be making some progress!

8. Blog. hahahahahahaha.

9. Date nights. None. Whomp whomp. BUT! I have a plan! My friend and I are going to start swapping babysitting so that we each get one date night a month. And RaptorDad surprised me with an at home murder mystery kit and I’m super excited about it! I think we’re going to do it this week! <3

10. 10 k steps a day. This was a pretty epic fail. In fact, I’m not even going to look up the data.

To be honest, February kind of kicked my butt. I had 2 huge girl scout events (horseback riding and NASA), which were super fun, but involved a ton of paperwork and organization. I had to deal with not only Kate’s cookies, but the troop cookies as well (although I have the most awesome cookie mom ever! Without her, I would be in a loony bin.) Mia and Kate both got sick. And I had to plan for the EPP workshop. But that’s all in the past! It’s March now and I have a feeling that it’s going to be awesome. πŸ™‚

So let’s set some March goals!

  1. Butterflies and Caterpillars. I need to decide on the embroidery (why am I having such a hard time committing?!?) and actually start doing it. Now that all of the 9 patches are done, I can start assembly of the rows that are finished once the embroidery is finished. I also need to make some decisions about the green and teal fruit. If I could figure that out, I could prep it and take it to camp this month when I go with my girl scouts.
  2. Scrapbooking. I want to get some more white cardstock and do a big batch of mixed media backgrounds. Then hopefully I can get some pages done.
  3. Project Life. ::sigh:: I love this project so much, but I just can’t seem to get any momentum! Maybe I should try to order a bunch of prints. Editing the pics is always what slows me down… So yes, I think my March goal will be to order prints for August through the end of 2019. Spoiler alert: there’s no way I’m getting this done. lol.
  4. Road Trip Prep. We decided to go to Houston for a few days over spring break and Kate is requesting a road trip activity book. Ask and you shall receive! What kind of theme… Maybe I should look up a badge she can earn? Decisions, decisions.
  5. Hexies. Finish the 12th super hexie! And sort the prebasted hexies for the last 3 blocks of the second set.
  6. Pixelated Heart Quilt. I found the perfect backing fabric! I’d love to go ahead and making this into a quilt sandwich and start quilting it!
  7. Bluebonnet Pics! Y’all! The bluebonnets are starting to come up! Time to find some sundresses and plop my kids down in the weeds!
  8. Tomatoes. Speaking of plants, I bought 2 tomato plants. I’m sure they’ll be dead soon, but for now they look ok! Probably because they’re sitting on the windowsill in my kitchen so RaptorDad has been watering them. lol.
  9. Blog. Maybe I’ll do better this month? lol.
  10. Move more. I didn’t start until today, but I’d like to move my body for 30 minutes a day. This can be as simple as going for a walk. (Which I did this morning with Xander!)

February Goals!

Hello February! I did some stuff!

  1. Write thank you notes. Done!
  2. December Daily. Done! And I even filmed it!
  3. June Project Life. Done! And July is also done! I loved getting back into this project.
  4. 4 New Montessori Trays. Whomp whomp. I did not get this done. I’m going to try to work on it tomorrow.
  5. Girl Scouts. Kate’s cookies are done! And the troop is wrapping up this week. We’ve also planned February and the first half of March! Yay!
  6. Blog. You guys! I got my 6 blog posts done!
  7. Butterflies/ Caterpillars. I’m done with all of the red ones! (Except for the embroidery. lol.) And I would be done with the orange except that I decided that I needed to redo the orange caterpillar. Maybe I’ll put up a blog post this week showing my progress. πŸ™‚
  8. 5 Bags of Trash. I didn’t do so good on this one.
  9. Plan with Kate. We actually sat down and did our planners for 2 of the 4 weeks. It was quite fun! We sat down and worked on February this weekend. I think Kate enjoyed setting goals and scheduling her month. She is a child that *always* wants to know what’s coming up so it makes me quite happy to see her taking ownership over it.
  10. 10k Steps a Day. Well, I started off strong. lol. I need to recommit to this.

What shall we plan for Feb…

  1. Butterflies and Caterpillars. I really need to put in some serious time on this. I need to make 9 more butterflies, design and make 9 more pieces of fruit, finish the orange caterpillar, and make 20 more nine patches. (I’m cheating a little because I finished 6 nine patches today, but it’s already February so I want to be able to count those towards my total!)
  2. EPP Workshop. I am leading my Quilt Guild through an English Paper Piecing Workshop this month. EEEPPPP!!! I’m so nervous. Now that Kate is done with cookies I plan to devote some time to preparing for this.
  3. August Project Life. Self Explanatory.
  4. Scrap 10 current pages. I’m so far behind that I might never catch up. I need to do something current!
  5. 4 Montessori Trays. No excuses! I have a ton of cute Valentine’s Day stuff that I just need to put out.
  6. Girl Scouts. I need to do a bit of paperwork and organizing for our upcoming trips to NASA and Camp.
  7. Hexies. I want to spend at least 2 nights on my hexies. I spent an evening recently cutting out some fussy cuts so hopefully that will motivate me!
  8. Blog! Shall we say 6 again in February? It’s weird to be posting on Tuesday/ Thursday, but 6 seems pretty manageable.
  9. Date Nights! I think I’m going to poke around on Pinterest and find some ideas for at home date nights.
  10. 10K Steps a Day. What can I say, I’m optimistic! (Even though I’m writing this on the night of the 3rd and I haven’t managed to do it yet this month.)

That’s it for today! Next post will have some pretty pictures. πŸ™‚

January Goals

It seems silly to be setting more goals after just writing a short novel about my 2020 goals, but y’all know I love my monthly goals posts! So I’ll keep this short and sweet. First, looking back at December.

  1. December Daily. Well, I didn’t finish it, but I did get 13 days of it done so that’s something. I’m putting this one first on the list for January.
  2. Secret Sewing. Mostly done! I made a wall hanging for my grandmother and I got it all epp’d, appliqued, even hand quilted! But I just couldn’t figure out the binding. lol. So in the end, I wrapped it up with the fabric for the binding and we’re going to finish it together. πŸ™‚ I’m planning to write a whole blog post about it once it’s finished.
  3. Bluebonnets. I wanted to finish appliquing all 6 of my bluebonnets, and I’m happy to report that I got 3 more done bringing my grand total to 5! I also made some progress on the bookshelf block. πŸ™‚
  4. Advent Activities. I actually struggled with this and I don’t know why. But in the end, we had a great advent.
  5. Buy all the things. Check.
  6. Wrap all the things. Check.
  7. Decorate. Check. And for bonus points, we got it all packed away yesterday!
  8. 9 Patches. I actually got 18 9 patches done! I’m seriously happy with my progress.
  9. Montessori Trays. Ugh. I got nothing done.
  10. Windchime. Also got nothing done. lol. But I did piece a whole quilt top in less than a week! Maybe I’ll write a blog post about that too. lol.

Which brings us to January. Hmm….

  1. Write thank you notes. This needs to happen today or tomorrow.
  2. December Daily. I’d like to finish this this month so that I can really start on some of my scrapbooking catch up goals.
  3. Project Life. I’d like to do June 2019.
  4. 4 new Montessori trays. Should I revisit the snow theme from last January, or pull out our Valentine’s Day stuff early… decisions decisions.
  5. Girl Scouts. I need to map out our spring semester, and I need to plan our meetings for January. I also need to deal with cookies.
  6. Blog! I’d love to write, hmmm… 6 blog posts?
  7. Butterfly/ Caterpillars. I need to make some serious progress on the applique, and I need to finalize the design for the embroidery so I can get started on that.
  8. 5 bags of trash gone. January always makes me want to get rid of all of the things!
  9. Plan with Kate. Kate wanted to get a planner! Naturally I was all over this. We sat down on Monday and set them up together and it was so fun! I’m hoping this is a good tool for Kate and I’d love it to be a habit for her before she starts middle school next year. So my plan is for us to sit down every Sunday and set up the next week.
  10. 10k steps a day. I know better than to set a goal for working out 3 times a week, but I’m hoping I can ease myself into better habits by starting with walking every day. Fingers crossed!

And goodness, that’s 2 posts in a row that are just a wall of text with no pics! I’ll try to make the next post a little bit more interesting! lol.

20×20 in 2020

Y’all! New Year’s is always my favorite. I’m so motivated to clean up, get organized, and tackle a million projects! This generally lasts for about 2 weeks, lol. But I’m not about to let my abysmal track record stop me from setting some truly ambitious goals for the year! Since it’s 2020, I couldn’t resist being a little extra and setting 20 goals for the year. And each goal has 20 parts! Let me preface this by stating that I know there there isn’t a chance in hell that I get all of this done, but even a fraction of this would be awesome, so without further ado here are my 20x20in2020!

  1. 20 months of project life. I am so far behind on this project which makes me sad because it’s one of favorites to look back on. Also, I get a beautiful kit every month! I am currently working on June of 2019, so even if I get all the way to December 2020 that’s still only 19 months. My work around is that I’m going to count the ending page of 2019 and the opening page of 2020 as a month. I think that to make this goal happen I’m going to have to just sit down and do a huge batch of photo editing which is not my fav… but needs must.
  2. 20 months of scrapbooking. I have fallen so far behind on the kids’ scrapbooks… I’m currently on August of 2018. ::cringe:: 2019 was the year that I really fell deep into the quilty rabbit hole and the majority of my free time went to that hobby. I don’t regret that decision at all, but I think I want to do a combo of things to make sure that I am still scrapping the most important memories that I don’t want to forget. 1. I think I am going to dedicate one of my 2 preschool days a week to scrapping/ project life. I think I am also going to cut down on the number of stories I am trying to tell a month. I mean, do I really need 15 pages from August 2018?
  3. 20 nights of hexies. Ah, my poor neglected hexies. I enjoy doing handwork in the evenings, but lately I’ve been reaching for my applique. I would like to devote 20 nights to my hexies over the course of the year. If I do that, I feel confident that I can finish up my last super hexie block and then hopefully I will be motivated to finish!
  4. 20 new adventures with my kids. This breaks down to roughly 2 a month which seems super doable. These could be as elaborate as my scheme to convince RaptorDad to come with us to the Grand Canyon over spring break (jury is still out on that one) or as simple as a picnic dinner at the park.
  5. 20 new Montessori trays. This is roughly 4 news trays for 5 new themes. And recycling materials is fair game!
  6. 20 activities with my Girl Scouts. This seems like a lot, but I’m anticipating starting a troop for Mia this fall when she starts kindergarten. (Please excuse me while I go have a panic attack at the thought of the babies starting kindergarten!)
  7. 20 blocks for my Texas Forever quilt. I currently have 21/63 done so getting 20 more done seems doable.
  8. 20 blog posts. That’s roughly 2 a month. Surely I can manage that! lol.
  9. 20 new recipes. In my mind these are all healthy recipes. Who wants to bet that next December they were all desserts. lol.
  10. 20 liturgical living activities. The kids and I really enjoy these when I manage to pull them together. I like to build on what we started last year and add a few more.
  11. 20 organization/Β home projects. If I’m honest, these are probably going to take place in the fall once all of the kids are in school full time. I really want to install a backsplash in our kitchen. I’d also like to repaint our kitchen and guest bathroom. Also, want to do another big purge reorg of our kid art supplies/ games closet. And I would love to get rid of 85% of the crap in our master bedroom and make it a soothing retreat. Also, big kid room for the twins.
  12. 20 butterflies/ caterpillars/ fruit. Yikes. I really want this done for the twin’s birthday in April, but I’m just not sure it’s possible without paying to have them quilted. The first hurdle is to finish the tops though!
  13. 20 nine patches for caterpillars. I got a bunch of these done in December, so I’m not even sure that I need 20 anymore. Still, the plan is to have a row of pinwheels at the top and bottom so maybe I’ll say 20 nine patches/ pinwheels.
  14. 20 date nights. Maybe my favorite on the list! These are for at home date nights. I want to come up with some creative date nights for us. New board games? Cooking class? Wood working? Book club? Only time will tell.
  15. 20 plants from seed. This spring I want to plant a garden with the kids from seeds so that they can watch them germinate. I’m hoping for some tomatoes!
  16. 20 hours of staff development. Boring. So boring. But I need to keep chipping away at this.
  17. 20 new books. I’m actually thinking I might find some list of books and try to read them?
  18. 20 bags of trash gone. Self explanatory.
  19. 20 boxes to the Caring Place. (It’s like goodwill, but local.)
  20. 20 pounds gone. Alright, I’m cheating a little on these last 3 because since Christmas we’ve already gotten rid of a bag of trash, a box for the caring place, and I’ve got a nasty post Christmas cold that has helped me drop 4 pounds. I’m not letting that go to waste!

I’m going to track these on the sidebar for my blog, and I’ll also post some progress pics on instagram with the hashtag #20x20in2020 .

December Goals!

We made it through November! And even though I missed posting a few days on Instagram, I actually crafted every single day so I’m counting #NaNoCraftMo2019 as a success. πŸ™‚ Let’s look at how I did in November.

1.Christmas Half Square Triangles. Done! I toyed with the idea of getting this quilted and bound before the end of the month, but I quickly realized that was an insane idea. But I did get the entire top finished, and I’ve got the fabric for the backing, so once the holiday craziness calms down I’ll get back to it. I probably spent as much time with the seam ripper as I did the sewing machine, but I’m super happy with the end result. I just love love love this Bonnie and Camille Christmas fabric!

2. Kaffe Quilt. I finished my blocks! My grandmother is still working on her blocks, but she had way more to do than me. lol. Once we get it done, I’ll try to take some pics for the blog. πŸ™‚

3. Zipper Pouch. Well, I forgot to add the handle, but I’m pretty pleased nonetheless. Our exchange is on Tuesday and I’m anxious to see how it’s received!

4. Advent Calendar. You guys. I have come to the realization that there is no way I am going to finish this in time for Christmas. Now sure, I could stitch my fingers to the bone trying, but I wouldn’t really enjoy it, and you know what? This is a hobby! So I am quite pleased with the significant progress that I did make, and I’m going to pack it away for a while.

5. Project Life. Well, I got 1 layout done. :/

6. Scrapping. Not much better, but I did get 6 pages done. I’m really hoping that December Daily reignites my scrappy mojo!

7. Gratitude Tree. This was a great idea, but it didn’t work out as I envisioned it this year. But, we got through about 7 days and it was a great proof of concept! And you know what? Next year when the babies are a year older, I bet this is awesome!

8. Thanksgiving Baking. Huge success! We made 2 day Chocolate Chip Cookies and white chocolate covered popcorn for Thanksgiving Eve. Then between 2 dinners for actual Thanksgiving, we made: a double batch of oreo truffles, 2 pumpkin pies, 2 lemon merengue pies, 1 cherry pie (I make all of my own pie crust), a gluten free cheesecake, a double batch of mac n cheese, and broccoli cheese rice casserole. Man, I’m tired just typing that! But I seriously love baking and seeing other people enjoy things that I make so I tend to go a but overboard. lol.

9. December Daily Prep. I actually didn’t do any prep aside from ordering some more photo paper, but you know what? Still a win! And I’ve already done the spread for Day 1! On day 1!

10. Secret Sewing. I’m making excellent progress! 2 of the 3 projects are completed, and I’m very close to completing the 3rd. πŸ™‚

Time for December Goals!

  1. December Daily. I don’t know that it is actually possible, but I would love to finish this in December. I’m keeping it really small, 4×4, so I think it’s theoretically possible? We’ll see. lol.
  2. Secret Sewing. One final project to go!
  3. Texas Forever Quilt. I want to finish appliqueing (why does that look like it is spelled so wrong?) all of the bluebonnets. I have everything prepped and I have 2 1/2 of the 6 done.
  4. Advent Activities. I have the month all mapped out, I just need to execute it. lol.
  5. Buy all the things. Oh my gosh, we haven’t even started shopping.
  6. Wrap all the things. I need to find this year’s wrapping paper!
  7. Decorate. I was going to do this today, but I just didn’t happen. I did dig out a purple candle though, so at least we had part of an advent wreath for dinner.
  8. It wasn’t on my list last month, but I actually made a ton of progress on the butterfly and caterpillar quilts! This month, I’d like to keep making progress on the applique and also knock out some more 9 patches.
  9. Montessori Trays. Since the kids will be off of school for a few weeks, I really want to have some new trays in place! I’m thinking Christmas themed. And I need to do them sooner rather than later. lol.
  10. Windchime Quilt. I’d love to prep the next block! I’ve now got 3 done and they make me so happy to look at on my wall. πŸ™‚

November!

Y’all. It’s November! And I had the opposite of a productive October so it’s time to kick it into high gear! First let’s look at how I did for October.

1.Super Hexie Block. I actually got this one done! So now I literally only need to do 1 more block and then all of the hexies will be basted. The end is near!

2. Windchime Quilt. Well, I didn’t get it appliqued, but I did get it all sewn together and ready to go so that’s something. lol.

3. Butterfly Quilt. Does buying more fabric count as progress? lol.

4. Caterpillar Quilt. Same.

5. Project Life. Oh my gosh, y’all, I didn’t do anything with Project Life this month! I’m afraid that my scrappy mojo has left the building.

6. Scrapping. Ditto. I literally only made 2 pages this month. ::shame::

7. Advent Calendar. Um… Are y’all sensing a pattern? That pattern is that nothing much of anything got done.

8. Halloween. Finally a win! Costumes were made, pictures were taken, and too much candy was eaten. Poor Mia was sick the night before so she missed her Halloween party at school, but she rallied for Trick or Treating so we took her to a few houses. Also, Kate made her own costume this year! I’m so proud of her. πŸ™‚

9. Camping Trip. Well, we got all of the prep work done and then some. Sadly, Kate and I had to leave unexpectedly on Friday night, but my co-leaders are amazeballs and they took over seamlessly and handled everything.

10. Pumpkin Patch Pictures. ::sigh:: I took them. I even took my real camera. But the babies were sooooooo not having it. Le sigh. Also, they were almost sold out of pumpkins. Oh well. Next year, I’m going to try to finish costumes much earlier so we can do the pumpkin patch while there are still pumpkins!

And now onto November!

1.Christmas Quilt. The UFO for this month is my Christmas 1/2 square triangle quilt. I have the center finished, but I still need to cut and add the borders. I was toying with the idea of trying to have it fully quilted and bound by the meeting, but I’m pretty sure that’s never going to happen. lol. So let’s say that I would like to have the top done.

2. Kaffe Quilt. My grandmother and I are making a joint quilt! No pressure. lol. This one has a bit of back story that should really be it’s own post. Stay tuned! The short version is that I need to make 66 blocks this month.

3. Zipper Pouch. For our Guild Christmas party, we are exchanging zipper pouches. I was super intimidated, but I made a practice one and I’m actually pretty happy with it. Now I just need to make the one for the actual exchange!

4. Advent Calendar. It’s crunch time. I have to have the background done this month. Then maybe I can try for one thing each day in December? Yikes!

5. Project Life. No excuses y’all. I have to get at least June done.

6. Scrapping. Um… I don’t even know, y’all. Maybe 10 pages?

7. Gratitude Tree. This is a crazy idea that I had yesterday. Basically, I want to have a big tree on the wall in our living room (made out of paper) and then we will each add a leaf every day where we write down 1 thing that we are grateful for. In my mind, we each get a different color and then we have a beautiful rainbow tree at the end of the month. The reality is that I still don’t have any paper for this, let alone paper that is cut into the shapes of leaves! lol. But fingers crossed I can make this happen today!

8. Thanksgiving Baking. I need to sit down and work on my baking menu and schedule to make sure that everything gets done.

9. December Daily Prep. Yay! I love December Daily. I’m sticking with a 4×4 format this year. I ::gasp:: didn’t even buy a kit because nothing was striking my fancy this year. That and I have enough Christmas product to open a December Daily store. lol.

10. I have a little bit of secret sewing that I need to finish this month. Fingers crossed!

After a so so October, you might be wondering how on earth I’m planning to get so much done in November, but RaptorDad does NaNoWriMo every November where he writes a whole 50k word novel. Every eyar I try to make NaNoCraftMo a thing, but I lose steam and end up binge watching Netflix. This year will (hopefully) be different!

October Goals

Yay October! I <3 Halloween. πŸ™‚ I actually had a pretty productive September! Let’s take a look.

  1. Windchime Block. I got the second block done, and I committed to a fabric for the fabric centers and bought it! I have the hardest time making decisions about this sort of thing. lol. I’m loving this project so much. I’ve even got the 3rd block all prepped and ready to EPP.

2. Butterfly Quilt. Well, I didn’t get 10 more butterflies appliqued, but I did get 5 more done bringing my grand total up to 8. I also prepped all of the red, green, and teal butterflies!

3. Caterpillar Quilt. Not only did I finalize the template design, I actually got 2 caterpillars appliqued!

4. Project Life. Not doing so hot on this one. Lol. But I did get 2 weeks done so that’s something.

5. Scrapping. I got July 2018 done!

6. Advent Calendar. I actually did spend one night working on this. πŸ™‚ I need to step it up next month though.

7. Plan Halloween costumes. Xander keeps changing his mind. lol. The current front runner is a vampire bat which would actually be pretty easy to accomplish. I’m going to give him about one more week and then I’m going to make him commit. lol.

8. Plan September Girl Scout meetings. Done! And Kate finished her Junior Aide project! And she and her friend finished their Bronze Award project! She’s been working on these 2 projects since last April so I’m super duper thrilled that she (and I!) aren’t stressing about them anymore. Also super duper proud of her for working so hard to earn these!

9. Fall Break. Y’all. I was so focused on all of this Girl Scout stuff (see #8) that I totally dropped the ball on Fall Break. But you know what? THAT’S OK! (Plus, when I went back to recheck the dates, Kate’s fall break is not the same as the twins and I didn’t want them to miss that much school.) Once I finally accepted that Fall Break wasn’t happening this year, I was about 1000% less stressed.

10. Professional Development. So I’m not sure how this works, but apparently when they say that you have to renew your certificate every 5 years, what they really mean is every 6 years? IDK, but I’m going to stop fretting about this for at least another 6 months. lol.

Time for some October Goals!

1. Hexie Super Block #11. This is my Guild UFO for the month and I’m actually glad that I’m being forced to work on it because I really just want to start a new EPP project but I know that is insane. (Holy run on sentence, Batman!) I figured out how to hang them on the wall by my sewing machine which is for sure helping with the motivation. It also helps that I only have 2 more super hexie blocks to finish and then all of the hexies will be basted! Is it insane that I’m vaguely considering trying to finish both blocks this month? Yes! But we’ll just have to see what happens. lol.

2. Windchime Quilt. I would love to finish the 3rd block that I already have all of the prep work done on!

3. Butterfly Quilt. I would like to get a few more fat quarters of oranges and yellows so that I can finish prepping all of the applique. I’d also like to get at least 5 more butterflies done.

4. Caterpillar Quilt. Ditto prep work. I’d also like to get 1 more caterpillar done. And maybe a few more of the 9 patches.

5. Project Life. Dare I say June and July?

  • 6. Scrapping. ::sigh:: Maybe August 2018?

7. Advent Calendar. Time to ramp this up. I’d like to get the background done. Is it possible? Maybe?

8. Halloween! I need to actually make the kids’ costumes! I’m actually thinking that I might have Kate make her own as a fall break project…

9. Camping Trip! The Girl Scout insanity continues. lol. We are going camping in October and it will surprise none of you that I am not a camper. Luckily my Co Leader is amazing.

10. Pumpkin Patch Pictures. Actual good ones with my real camera! I might even take the kids to the real legit pumpkin patch over fall break, but the jury is still out on that one.

Hello September!

I’d say Hello Fall, but it’s still a million degrees here on the surface of the sun. lol. Let’s see how I did in August.

  1. Girl Scouts. I did pretty good on this one! I got all of the banking trainings done and went up to the bank to get all of the paperwork done. Now I’m just waiting for my debit card to arrive and we will be in business. πŸ™‚ I also got my CPR/ First Aid training done, attended my first leader meeting (with all 3 kids on tow since RaptorDad had to go to Kate’s open house at the exact same time), and had my first meeting/ parent meeting. You guys, my co-leader is amazing! I would be totally floundering if not for her. We don’t ::quite:: have the fall schedule done, but it’s not for lack of trying. We’re just still waiting on a few people to get back to us regarding scheduling field trips. But I’m still super excited about what we do have planned!
  2. First day of school pics/ interviews. Done! And extra cute as always. πŸ™‚ I love this project so much.
My Beautiful First Born
Cutie Patootie!
Sweet Mama’s Boy

3. Unicorn Quilt. The top is done! And my grandmother convinced me to have it quilted. lol.

4. Editing. Nada. Although I did finish 3 weeks of Project Life. I need to keep this momentum going, but I’m almost out of photo paper. lol.

5. Bluebonnet Quilt. Done! Well, I still need to bind it, but I’ve been watching some videos and I’m just about ready to give it a go. How hard could it be? lol.

6. Applique. I’m making progress on the second set of bluebonnets! I’m just drawing on the backgrounds as I go, but I did get 2 1/2 bluebonnets done. Just 3 1/2 to go. Then I need to start thinking about my next block…

7. Advent Calendar. All sorted and ready to go! I even got a few things stitched down. πŸ™‚ The directions (probably from like 1982) were very brief! Not at all like the kits I’m used to working with. I think if this had been my first project I would be lost, but I have made so many bucilla projects at this point that I was able to fill in the blanks with a little bit (lot) of help from my mom. lol. I’m so excited about this!

8. Butterfly Quilt. I made a ton of progress on this! I got all of my templates made. I prepped all of the butterfly bodies. I ordered (and cut!) all of my background fabric. And I’ve almost completed 3 butterflies! (They just need embroidery.) I am having so much fun with this! I even made my first 9 patch!

9. Caterpillar Quilt. I got all of the white fabric cut for Xander’s quilt as well!

10. Professional Development. I actually got some done! I think I’m up to 22 hours. lol. Still a long way to go, but I’m finally making some progress!

Wow! I got waaaaaay more done than I was expecting to. πŸ™‚ Let’s think about September, shall we?

  1. Windchime Block. This is my UFO challenge quilt for the month. Let’s be real, there’s no way that I’m finishing this quilt in a month. lol. But I would like to finish 1 block. Spoiler alert: I was so excited about working on it this month that I started on it as soon as our guild meeting ended. I’ve now got all of the EPP done and I’ve moved on to applique.

2. Butterfly Quilt. I’d like to prep and applique 10 more butterflies.

3. Caterpillar Quilt. Create templates and prep some blocks. What I’d like to do is to cut and prep a circle each time I cut and prep a butterfly. That way, the caterpillars will be all ready to go!

4. Project Life. I’m getting further behind again. lol. I’d like to finish May and June at minimum. Getting July done would be a bonus.

5. Scrapping. Also falling further behind here. I’m sensing a theme. lol. Hmm… If I could scrap July 2018 and also scrap 10 current layouts, that would be amazing!

6. Advent Calendar. I’d like to make some progress on this. Hmm… Maybe I’ll say that I’d like to commit to 3 evenings this month where I put away my quilting and work on the advent calendar. I’m sure that I’ll ramp up as it gets closer to Christmas!

7. Plan Halloween Costumes. We’re leaning towards Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, at least partially because that was my all time favorite costume of Kate’s! Naturally, I can’t find said costume. lol. Kate’s still undecided.

8. Plan September Girl Scouts Meetings.

9. Fall Break. I’m considering a mini road trip for a few days over fall break… Maybe Dallas? I’m open to other suggestions! Maybe even the beach again!

10. Professional Development. Boo. So boring. But, I need to get it done. Maybe 2 6 hour classes this month? I need to sit down and figure out a timeline so I’m not panicking in February!